Of Tainted Blood and Love
by RissaAngel
Summary: There are important events that shape a child's life, and for Regulus Black, it was his brother Sirius's sorting. He thinks it's his chance to step into the limelight.


**Of Tainted Blood and Love**  
Larissa  
January 2005-01-05

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JK Rowling. No profit is derived from this fiction.

_The offspring of all riches: pride, vanity, ostentation, arrogance, tyranny. –Mark Twain_

Regulus was quietly reading in the study when he first heard his mother's piercing shriek. His light grey eyes flickered towards the door, and he shut his book with an abrupt snap.

"What on earth?" he muttered.

"Good Merlin!" Upstairs, his father's voice echoed his thoughts. Caelum Black had been leisurely reading the paper before his wife's untimely interruption. "Odessa?" A series of creaks and groans from the staircase resounded throughout the house as his father quickly descended the stairs. "Odessa, what's the matter?"

Regulus quickly rose to his feet, sticking his head out from the study door and watching his father's narrow frame disappear into the parlour. He sighed, wondering what on earth it would be this time, and followed his father, softly treading down the corridor as not to disturb them. He leaned against the doorframe, lips pressed into a thin line, and surveyed the scene. He didn't even notice when the house elf, Kreacher, walked up behind him.

His mother's face was a ghostly pale colour, half hidden by a mane of shiny, dark hair. Her long fingers were clutching a piece of parchment—a letter, obviously—to her chest, which was heaving up and down in irregular spasms. His father was standing next to her, looking especially impatient, no doubt irritated with her theatrics.

"Well? What is it?" he said, sneering at his wife. He hated when she made a huge spectacle over things.

Odessa pulled herself together slightly, and narrowed her eyes at her husband. "A letter from Bellatrix," she said icily. She heaved another laboured sigh before adding, "about your son." Her hand held out the piece of parchment to him and quickly looked away from it, as though she couldn't bear to have it in her sight.

"Sirius?" he repeated. "He's only just arrived at Hogwarts." A sudden dawning of comprehension flickered in his eyes, and he swiftly snatched the letter away from his wife, smoothing it out and scanning it thoroughly.

"I see," he muttered. His right arm twitched and his entire face blanched. The parchment crumpled as his fingers curled around it and formed a fist. Caelum tossed it aside, and it landed not but a few feet from where Regulus was lurking.

Regulus watched all of this quietly from his position at the door. Whatever Sirius had done, it couldn't have been good. Nothing good ever resulted in Father's twitching and blanching. Of course, if it was Bellatrix who was writing the letter, it most certainly wasn't good news. She never bothered with bearing anything but bad news, something that she took great pleasure in doing.

He watched as his father turned back to address his mother. "Sirius didn't send a letter?" She shook her head at him in reply. "Couldn't be bothered with it, I see. Or perhaps he was worried about the repercussions," he murmured quietly. He clenched and unclenched his fingers, and Regulus thought it seemed as though his father was just waiting for a moment to wrap them around someone's neck.

Odessa sunk onto the plush, green couch, waving a hand at her face in a fanning motion. "How did we go wrong with him, Caelum?" She moaned, "the heir to our fortune, our oldest son!"

Caelum stared at her stonily, his strong jaw set, his dark eyes looking positively murderous. "I assure you that his placement in Gryffindor is not my fault," he replied in a soft hiss.

Regulus's eyes widened a bit. Sirius was placed in Gryffindor? Well, that certainly was interesting news. He almost snickered, but the thought of attracting his parents' attention at the moment was unwise, so he bit his tongue. It was little wonder his parents were absolutely livid. If there was any antithesis of the Black household, it would be the Gryffindor lifestyle. Only Sirius would go and have himself sorted with the proud and arrogant Gryffindors.

He gazed at his mother, whose lips were curled up into a twisted smile. She let out a self-aggrandizing laugh, and shook her head at her husband. "Of course it isn't _your_ fault. Nothing is _ever_ your fault."

Regulus froze. Caelum Black did not take insults or mocking in stride.

In one swift movement, Caelum dropped his arm to his side, where his wand was concealed in the pockets of his robes. Odessa's eyes were locked on his, and she flashed him a taunting grin. "Go on," she goaded, "go on and try it, love."

It was then that Kreacher took it upon himself to rush forward and place himself between the feuding couple. "Is Mistress needing Kreacher to fetch a quill and parchment to write a letter to young Master Sirius?" He trembled slightly, but his loyalty to his Mistress was so great that he was willing to bear the brunt of whatever her husband was planning on doing to her.

"Oh no, Kreacher. I won't be writing any letters. A Howler, perhaps, but no letters," she replied in a coddling voice.

"Would mistress prefer a cup of tea?" Kreacher croaked out.

"I should think a glass of brandy would be more appropriate, Kreacher," she decided. The elf nodded and quickly went to the bar where a decanter of brandy was sitting out. He returned to her almost at once, handing over a healthy glassful of brandy.

Regulus took Kreacher's distraction as the opportunity to escape unnoticed, surreptitiously edging out of the doorway and back towards the hall. He had taken three steps when his father's voice barked out, "Regulus!" Regulus's shoulders slumped over, and he turned around slowly, appearing in the doorway once more.

"Yes, father?"

"Have you been standing there this entire time?"

There was no point in lying. "Yes, sir."

His father pulled out his wand, his fingers slowly curling around it into a tight grip. "I see. So you're well aware of your brother's current…situation?"

"I am, sir." Once more, Regulus thought about Sirius running around in robes of scarlet and gold. He had heard Bellatrix admonish the Gryffindor house often since she began her education at Hogwarts, and listened to the older adults rebuke Dumbledore for his typical Gryffindor policies. The thought of Sirius, the beloved heir, first-born son, falling from grace pleased Regulus a bit. It must have shown on his face, because his father inhaled sharply, fixing him with a scowl.

"And you find this very amusing?" Caelum asked cooly.

"No, no. Of course not." Regulus shook his head fervently. He had always looked up to his brother, but he could not help the gentle flutter of excitement in his stomach from this new opportunity. He could step up and be everything that Sirius wasn't. He could be the one treated with respect, instead of being fussed over by his mother and ignored by every one else.

"Come here," his father ordered.

Regulus stepped forward, tentatively, before pausing to glance at his mother, who was still sitting on the couch. Her face was quite impassive.

His father gave an angry growl, and flicked his wand at Regulus. "I said come here!" he repeated sternly. Regulus gasped as he felt his muscles being controlled by an unknown force, and he was dragged forward, almost tripping over his own feet because of his resistance to the curse. He silently reprimanded himself for resisting the Imperius. Sirius had told him once that it wasn't so bad if one could accept and endure it. It was the resistance that made it worse.

"Father," he pleaded. He was inches away from his father now, and his body was visibly trembling.

"Regulus Owein Black, pull yourself together," his father ordered, wand steadily pointed at his son. "Do not show weakness."

Regulus felt his chin lift, his shoulders straighten out, and spine lengthen so that he was standing tall. He tried to calm himself, to stop trembling.

Odessa nodded approvingly. "That's enough, Caelum."

His father lifted the curse, and bent low so that his face was even with Regulus's. His dark eyes narrowed slightly, searching his son's face. "Clearly, your mother and I need to further demonstrate the importance of the values in this household. Of all respectable pureblood households, for that matter."

"Yes, sir." Regulus nodded, swallowing down a lump in his throat. He was not used to being on the receiving end of one of his father's lectures. Sirius had always been the one to get in trouble, always having the importance of being the heir to a noble household instilled into his mind daily.

"I'm glad you understand, son." Caelum straightened up a bit and turned towards his wife. "When Sirius returns for the holiday, I expect every member of this household to set an example and educate him on exactly what it means to be part of the Black family."

"A lovely idea," Odessa conceded over her glass of brandy.

"Regulus," he continued, "don't let yourself be influenced by the ideals that Sirius will have when he returns home. No doubt he will be affected by madcap Albus Dumbledore and his absurd, romantic ideals about Muggles, crossbreeds, and the like." He was so adamant about his distaste for the Headmaster that flecks of saliva were expelled from his mouth during his speech, landing on Regulus's skin.

"I won't sir." Regulus blinked at him. He didn't want to become influenced by Sirius, and was a bit put out by the fact that his father thought he would be so easily influenced. He wondered if he should elaborate on this to make sure his father knew he understood, and added, "Bellatrix and Narcissa have explained to me the importance of keeping wizardring lines pure and keeping the bloodlines uncontaminated."

"Have they? Hm," his father mused. "Very good. Perhaps I should enlist their help as well."

Regulus nodded slightly. He was hoping that his father would commend him on his knowledge of the pureblood family policies, but of course, it was Bellatrix and Narcissa who received the praise. Would he always be an afterthought?

Odessa spoke up suddenly, "Regulus, dear, why don't you run along to the study. Your father and I have a Howler to send." She smiled slightly at her husband, who nodded back.

"All right, mum," Regulus said, promptly leaving the parlour. Finally free of his parents, he retreated back to the study, and settled himself in the large, black leather armchair.

He had seen this coming, hadn't he? He thought back to the past summer, when his cousins had spent an entire week at Grimmuald place. He recollected how Andromeda had taken Sirius aside, telling him what he should expect at Hogwarts. She was a Ravenclaw. It wasn't Slytherin house, but it was still respectable enough, in her parents' eyes. The two cousins really bonded over the summer, much to Bellatrix and Narcissa's distaste. They insisted that Andromeda was turning out to be a bad egg.

Sirius wouldn't even let Regulus hang around him any longer. He shooed him off and, instead, held clandestine meetings with Andromeda. When he caught Regulus lurking about, he had locked him in the cloak closet for two hours. Regulus was still sore about it.

What had Bellatrix said to him? Something about Andromeda's mind being slowly poisoned with mud, and that she was trying to poison Sirius, too. It hadn't really made sense to him at the time, but now, now it was all coming together. Narcissa had told him that it was better to ignore people who shared Dumbledore's ideals, altogether. He wondered if she was ignoring Sirius now that he was a Gryffindor, a rival.

Was Sirius a bad egg now? His parents seemed to think that they could still force him to see the wizardring world their way, the right way. Perhaps Sirius was still able to change. Perhaps he wouldn't adopt Dumbledore's ideals after all.

Regulus wondered where that would leave him.

Sighing resolutely, he firmly resolved _not_ to become the bad egg. He wanted to make his parents proud, to be accepted by his cousins. He decided that the only way to do so was to study up on the importance of being a Black--to be proud of his pure blood—untainted blood.

He recollected his father mentioning a book located in the study, and quickly sprang up from his chair, walking over to the towering bookshelves. Hundreds of books of all shapes and sizes filled the rows of shelves. He scanned through them, eyes darting through the titles in search of the correct one.

"Ah," he muttered, pulling a large, black, leather-bound book out from a shelf above his head. He turned it over in his hands, and gazed at the lettering on the front. Large, silver words glittered back at him, embossed on the cover.

"Toujours Pur" he read. It would be the key to his success.

* * *

**A/N:** This is just a short glimpse into Regulus's life, and how he began to distance himself from his brother. Up until that point, I imagine he doted on his older brother, as most younger brothers do.

Caelum means the sculptor's chisel, and is also a star. Appropriate for a man who has such a handsome boy as Sirius for a son, don't you agree?

Odessa is Greek and means "a long journey". There are lots of tidbits in history connecting the name Odessa and various political conspiracies…

Regulus's middle name, Owein, means "Young Warrior".


End file.
